Just My Opinion - By Mary Kilen
The Holiday Season Kicks Off
Saturday, Nov. 30 will be the big kick off to the holiday season in Stanley with the annual Parade of Lights starting at 6:00 p.m. on Main Street. This is always one of my favorite events of the holiday season. This is a great day to be in town to also visit all of the great businesses that Stanley has to offer. Saturday is also Small Business Saturday with the annual Vendor/Craft Fair and local businesses offering special deals. This date is designed to be a day to celebrate your small businesses after the craziness of Black Friday is over.
Small Business Saturday was an idea created by American Express on November 27, 2010. The campaign launched in order to help small businesses gain additional exposure and to change the way consumers shop within their own community during the holiday season. In 2011, the day became official when Washington State mayors, governors, senators, and President Obama shared their support for Small Business Saturday.
As the day began to pick up more traction, in 2012 American Express encouraged all small business owners to take charge and promote their business. The credit card company offered small business owners free, personalized ads to spread across the web. That year, an estimated $5.5 billion was spent across the nation at independent businesses. By 2013, neighborhoods began celebrating the day, pledging support to the local businesses and organizations.
As the support and participation has continued to grow, the numbers are expected to rise as more consumers continue to care just as much about the shopping experience as the gifts they’re purchasing.
Shopping local matters. It supports a community’s well-being while keeping dollars in the local economy. That in turn supports jobs and wages and creates sustainability in small businesses.
This year, we received some information in the email from the Small Business Administration on Small Business Saturday and I will share that with you here.
Small Business Saturday and the Season of Small Business
By Al Haut, SBA North Dakota District Director
Tis the season….small business season. Saturday, November 30th marks Small Business Saturday and is the official kick-off for SBA’s “Season of Small Business” which runs through the end of December. During the Season of Small Business, we encourage consumers to support small businesses throughout the entire holiday season.
This year is the 15th anniversary of Small Business Saturday originally organized by American Express as a way to support independent small businesses. SBA joined the party in 2011 to help drive support to local small businesses during the financial crisis.
According to an American Express survey, consumers spent an estimated $17 billion at small independent retailers and restaurants during small business Saturday last year. Holiday shopping often creates the largest revenue stream for many small businesses and the impact can carry a small business throughout the year.
I truly believe small businesses are the backbone of the economy. They continually support our local communities through creating innovation, generating new jobs, and giving back to our youth programs. However, they need our support as well. Please consider shopping at a local small business for your Christmas gifts and remember to eat at a locally owned restaurant.
The 76,290 small businesses in ND and 547,493 small businesses in MN will thank you for shopping and eating at a small business on Saturday and every day through the holiday season.
(Alan Haut is the SBA’s North Dakota district director based in Fargo. He oversees the agency’s programs and services across the entire state.)
Frankly, I love the idea of Small Business Saturday. Now more than ever, local businesses are relying on their customers to support them as we enter the Christmas season. We sometimes take our local businesses for granted. I get it. Sometimes we’re looking to save a few bucks, so we hit up the big box stores. Or maybe, we were in Minot anyway, so we wandered in and picked up way more than we intended. We all do it. Sometimes we have no choice. There are some things that you need to go to a bigger store to get.
What we need to think about, though, is what we can get at home. If we do not support our local businesses, we could lose them. Now, more than ever, not only do our local businesses need us but we also need them. Your local businesses will do their best to make sure you have what you need. They are the ones that will make a local delivery. What will you do if they are gone?
This year, think local. Shop local. Invest in your community and the businesses that have also invested in the community, organizations, schools and more. Your local businesses need you and it is time to step up to the plate and answer their call.
Happy Thanksgiving!
As I write my column on Monday, I’m busy already thinking about Thanksgiving Day plans. My turkey has been thawing in the refrigerator since Saturday. With Amanda, Zach and the kids coming, I opted for a bigger turkey this year. Because of its size, it should still be thawed by Thursday. If it’s not, cold water baths for turkeys is common at our house because I always seem to not take the bird out of the freezer soon enough. My meal is planned and I think I have most of what I will need in the house, but I’m sure I’ll be back at the store at least once or twice for something I missed.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of our readers! May you make time in all of the hustle and bustle to be thankful for the gifts you have been given.
Email Issues
It’s been a challenge of a week for us here at the Promoter. On Monday of last week, we noticed that we were having problems with some emails coming through our regular email. It was weird, but it has happened before that maybe one or two might take longer to come than usual.
On Tuesday, we realized it was more of an issue as Amanda Dennis reached out to see if we had changed our email. An email she sent for a public hearing had bounced back to her saying that the server could not be found. What makes that strange is that Allyn Sveen sends me email from the same domain and hers was coming through.
I started realizing some of the other emails that I hadn’t seen that should have come in. Then I got an email from someone else about the emails failing. The troubling part was how long it was taking before the sender was notified that the email was unable to be delivered. I reached out to RTC and they have been working on it, but as of today we have no fix.
We started directing people to use our hotmail account if they were having trouble. That went well until today when Outlook was having problems. So today, I’m struggling and checking both emails and hoping for the best.
If you emailed us something over the last week and a half and haven’t seen it published, please reach out. We don’t know know about what we missed unless you contact us. You can also try our alternate email:
mountrailcountypromoter@hotmail.com.
Techs at RTC are working on the problem and trying to figure out what is going on, but I’m not sure how long it will take to find a full resolution or what that might look like. Please bear with us as we try to get it straightened out!